
Some exerpts:
"Making sounds with analogue electronics - Part 1: Before the synthesizer
3.1 Before the synthesizer
The use of electronics for audio started with the invention of the telephone in the last part of the nineteenth century. Before this, microphones were very insensitive and produced lots of distortion, and loudspeakers were very quiet! Since then electronics has developed enormously and now offers sensitive microphones with low distortion, as well as loudspeakers that are loud, plus many other inventions...
3.1.9 Performing
The environment for creating sounds using analogue audio equipment before synthesizers offers a wealth of possibilities, and this should not be overlooked even in a world of digital electronics and computers.
One notable example of what can be done with equipment as described earlier is the original theme music for the BBC television programme called 'Doctor Who'. This used audio oscillators adjusted by hand to produce the frequency swoops. The noise of the Tardis dematerializing is derived from scraping a piano string."
Also see http://120years.net/ for a list of electronic instruments more associated with synthesizers starting with the 'Clavecin Électrique'from 1759.
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